Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Sells 35 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co bought a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total value of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 9,825 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $5,753,421.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,984,264.64. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

TMO stock opened at $528.99 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $549.37 and a 200-day moving average of $564.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $493.30 and a 12 month high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $667.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.86.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.